Speaking from only a personal perspective, I think it's a little premature to throw in the towel on Indiana Midget Racing in 2014 after only two complete shows. The weather has been a major factor in jamming a wrench into Montpelier's plans. We were added to the April 26th program after three cancellations; Harold and his crew exhausted themselves and one tractor trying to get the track into raceable shape for us, then killed their other tractor trying to make the track better for last weekend, only to come up excuciatingly short. Given the uncertainty I think 14 cars was a respectable turnout for the opening night, and I know of at least 3 rides that will probably be there for the May 17th program that weren't ready to go yet. Montpelier averaged 24 cars last year, which is encouraging to me. I look for things to improve markedly in the coming weeks. Brian does a good job keeping the interest up on IOW and Montpelier is very good at updating things on their website, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
I can't really speak to what's going on at Gas City, except for a couple of points. First, there hasn't been a lot of information about the series forthcoming directly from the promoter; to me it seems like Mel figured if he put Midgets on the schedule they'd just show up. He didn't commit to allowing Mini Sprints to compete until the week before the opening night, and then it was just word-of-mouth with nothing official being posted on the track's website or a forum such as this. Second, being a Friday show it's difficult for a working stiff like me to get clocked out and loaded up, although now that I'm told chain-drives are Kosher I do intend to try later in the season, if circumstances allow.
A little further West, the IMRA seems to be gaining momentum with a very Montpelier-like model; it would be really great if, as they grow, they would creep a little more towards Central Illinois while at the same time the Montpelier series found partners to preach the Gospel in the Central and Western reaches of Indiana. Then, in a perfect world, somewhere out there on I-84, one of those visionaries that Johnny is praying for will promote an inter-state gathering of the Small Car Enthusiasts.
Until then, keep the Faith...